BlackRock crossed the 5.12% voting rights threshold in Flutter Entertainment on 7 May, regulatory filings show, days after the operator confirmed it has opened a review that may end its London Stock Exchange listing entirely.
The world’s largest asset manager now holds 8,941,343 voting rights in Flutter, comprising 4.47% directly attached to shares and 0.65% through financial instruments. The disclosure was filed to the LSE on 8 May.
The filing followed Flutter’s Q1 2026 results, published two days earlier, in which the operator confirmed it has opened a formal review of its London listing. The conclusion is expected by the end of June. The NYSE listing, where Flutter has been primary-listed since 29 January 2024, will not be affected by any outcome.
A primary listing already lost
Flutter’s link to London has been weakening for some time. The operator, which owns Paddy Power, Sky Bet, Betfair, FanDuel and PokerStars, listed in London following Betfair’s £1.4bn IPO in 2010. It transferred its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in January 2024 and exited the FTSE 100 shortly afterward. London has functioned as a secondary venue since.
In its Q1 statement, the company said:
We are undertaking a review of our London Stock Exchange listed ordinary shares. The conclusion of this review may result in the delisting of Flutter’s ordinary shares from the LSE.
Chief executive Peter Jackson did not address the review directly in his accompanying commentary, focusing instead on operational performance and a leadership reshuffle at FanDuel.
US now drives 41% of revenue
Flutter’s Q1 2026 results showed group revenue of $4.30bn, up 17% year-on-year. The US segment generated $1.76bn, around 41% of the group total, with US iGaming revenue rising 19% on FanDuel growth. US sportsbook revenue increased just 1%, with betting handle down 9% and average monthly players down 6%.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $631m, up 2%, though the margin compressed by 210 basis points. Net income fell to $209m from $335m a year earlier, a decline of 38%. Flutter trimmed its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance midpoint to $2.865bn from $2.97bn, citing unfavourable Q1 sports results, Arkansas state launch costs of $35m, and continued investment in prediction markets.
UK tax pressure on the home market
The listing review comes during a period of sharp change in UK tax policy. The Remote Gaming Duty rate increased from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026, doubling the levy on online casino profits. The change was confirmed in the Autumn Budget 2025 as part of a wider gambling duty overhaul intended to raise over £1bn per year for public finances.
Flutter previously flagged a £540m annual impact across its iGaming and sports betting operations from the UK tax increases. The UK and Ireland division, home to Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair, faces structural cost pressure at a time when group earnings are increasingly weighted toward the US.
A US-dominated shareholder register
BlackRock’s enlarged stake reinforces a register already tilted toward American capital. Six of Flutter’s nine largest investors are US-based. US-born, Cayman Islands-based billionaire Kenneth Dart reportedly holds more than 25% of the group, with Vanguard and Capital Group also among the prominent shareholders.
Parvus Asset Management, a London-headquartered fund, is one of the few non-US institutional holders of scale, raising its position to 10.7% on 5 March 2026 from 5.1% previously.
CRH provides the template
A full Flutter exit from London would follow a pattern already established this year. Irish building materials group CRH moved its primary listing to the NYSE in September 2023, launched a review of its residual LSE listing in February 2026, and completed its delisting on 20 April 2026. CRH cited trading activity levels and the cost and regulatory burden of retaining the London line as the decisive factors.
Other recent LSE departures or primary listing relocations include Wise, Ashtead, Petershill Partners and Indivior. For the exchange, a Flutter exit would mark another high-profile loss in a sector where institutional trading activity is increasingly concentrated in New York.
Deutsche Bank analyst Simon Davies cut his price target on Flutter to £124 on 11 May while maintaining coverage. Flutter’s annual general meeting is scheduled for 29 May, with the listing review conclusion expected before the end of Q2.
Source: Flutter Entertainment
